The new cultivar is the product of chance discovery. The new variety originated as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation of Ficus elastica ‘Melany’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,923. Ficus ‘NAIROBI’ is the same variety described in EU application number 2009/2418, grant EU 30778. The new variety was first available publicly December 2012. Until this time, plants of the new variety were either directly under the control of the inventor, or subject to confidential testing by the CPVO during the application process.
The new variety was discovered by the inventor, Jan van Geest, a citizen of Netherlands, during Autumn of 2007 in a commercial greenhouse belonging to the inventor in s'Gravenzande, the Netherlands. After identifying the new variety as a potentially interesting selection, the inventor continued confidential testing and propagation of ‘NAIROBI’, assessing stability of the unique characteristics of this variety.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘NAIROBI’ was first performed at a greenhouse in s'Gravenzande, the Netherlands, by vegetative cuttings in August of 2008. Access to all plants was restricted, as plants were kept in locations that are not open to the public. Through subsequent propagation multiple generations have been reproduced, which have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.